What your CEO wishes you knew about money

There are things your CEO would like you to know about money. Maybe he or he has never had the time to tell them to you directly. Today I’ll spill the beans.

1. Don’t aspire to have what they have because they do not pay for most of the material things you admire them for. Their car, rent, children’s education, medical and household expenses are paid for by the companies they run.

The phone they use is paid for. So is the air ticket, fuel, entertainment. So if you see them spending a bit more on other things, it is because a huge financial burden is borne by the companies they work for.

Lesson: Spend time building the assets that will bear your financial burden instead of increasing that burden by mimicking your CEO. His/her source of funds is not your source of funds.

2. Your only source of income cannot be your job. This is a tricky one for most of them to publicly admit. Some companies still have archaic contracts that prohibit people from engaging in other ventures.

In some of our training session we have actually had to challenge human resource managers to change the policy. Some have after understanding the calculations.

Let’s speak retirement. Everybody will still need a source of income to survive. You will still need food and will have bills to pay. The best time to start building is when you are working.

Most CEOs have investment groups, stakes in private companies and done other traditional investments like property, treasury bonds etc.

They know that their pension funds will never be enough to retire comfortably on so they invest.

Lesson: Invest aggressively. Your job is not a guarantee. Have multiple sources of income.

3. They don’t know it all. While at work the CEO may seem larger than life. At work, his or her word can be final.

We make the mistake of putting them on a pedestal in every area of your lives.

A young man told me that he could not believe that he lost money on an investment encouraged by his CEO. The CEO may be an expert in the industry of the company you work for but not in investments.

4. They have financial problems of their own. It may be comforting to know that in many ways the CEOs we admire are just like us.

They struggle with spending, debt, relationships, knowing where to invest, not saving enough, fretting over retirement etc.

I really admire the CEOs who have sat together with their teams as we trained them. I have felt sorry for those who believed that by virtue of their position, they could not face up to them. Nobody has perfect financials. The amounts we work with may be different but the principles are the same.

5. There is a type of CEO or leader to ignore. The one who insists you spend money to look good. This is also commonly a supervisor, boss or colleague.

The ones who encourage you to drive a certain car, have a certain phone or live in a certain neighbourhood to match the image of the organisation or the title you have.

Many people have succumbed to this pressure only to be extremely resentful when they did not get the promotion or even worse still lost their jobs.

Find a way to blot their opinions out. Don’t live out somebody else’s idea of what you should have. You do you.

Lesson: When it comes to your money, you are the CEO. Nobody else is so don’t give up that position

For more information on the Centonomy personal Fnancial planning programmes, get in touch with her on [email protected]|Facebook/WacekeNduati| Twitter@cekenduati